11:11
by HPtwilightfanatic
Summary: "What'd you wish for, Evans?" "Oh, er, I didn't make a wish. I don't really believe in that stuff." Wishes are made and emotions are discovered between Lily and James, all because of a certain time of day. Oneshot.


Professor Binns did not even seem affected by Sirius Black's sudden outburst. The boy leapt onto his chair and pointed violently at the clock, nearly beheading Remus in the act.

"It's 11:11! Everyone make a wish!" Every student's attention was now directed at the clock over the droning professor's head.

Lily glanced around her, noticing Alice's eyes glued to the clock, her gaze unwavering as she murmured something under her breath along with everyone else in the room. The redhead was actually surprised to see the reaction Black's shout had gotten. She had expected maybe a laugh or two, which is what Black was usually after, but even his eyes seemed glazed over as he made his wish. She couldn't help but shake her head at the foolishness of her fellow seventeen year olds believing in such an old wives tale.

"What'd you wish for, Evans?" Lily felt breath blow on her ear from the desk behind her. Turning slightly in her chair, she found James Potter leaning forward, his nose nearly brushing hers. She jolted back from him, but his dazzling Marauder grin still shone, his hazel eyes sparkling as they usually did,

"Oh, er, I didn't make a wish." She muttered, suddenly feeling embarrassed for being the mature one in the room. Especially under that hazel gaze.

James gasped dramatically, throwing a hand over his heart for good measure. He only laughed when she smacked him playfully.

"Why not?" He asked, his voice turning oddly serious.

Lily squirmed under his stare. "I don't really believe in that stuff, Potter." Her voice sounded critical, and she felt like it was a little harsh.

"Oh come on, Evans!" His grin was back, and some hair fell in front of his eyes. "Have fun for once! They may never come true but-" and just as it had appeared, the grin was gone. "But it's worth wishing for." He smiled again, but it did not quite reach his eyes. Instead, his eyes were staring right into her, past her eyes. She felt as if she should say something, but his eyes smothered any words that might have escaped her.

Lily turned back again warily, her eyes automatically checking the clock, not exactly sure what she expected.

11:12.

She tried to shake the slight disappointment that flickered in her gut. It was a stupid little ritual. Why should she care about this kind of stuff? What were wishes if they never came true! James had even admitted that himself. Lily tried to shake the saddened look that had just occupied his features from her mind, but it didn't go far.

The moment class was dismissed, every living body made for the door as quick as they could, as lunch awaited them down in the Great Hall. However, before Lily exited the classroom, a squeal made her head swivel back to the front of the room.

Professor Binns was handing an essay back to a Hufflepuff girl, who was now jumping up and down, swinging the essay over her head.

"I aced the essay! I aced it!" She shouted, shoving the parchment in her friend's face. "Do you see that? I aced it!"

"So?" Her friend shrugged, looking less than impressed with her own score than her friend's.

"Don't you see? That's what I wished for!"

A chill went through Lily as the friend immediately began joining in the girl's celebration.

"Are you coming Lily?" Marly called her back to attention, and, shaking her head to clear it, Lily followed her friends down to lunch.

Lunch was not the reprieve she had been waiting for though.

Every person at every table in every house was eagerly discussing the wishes that had been made at the blasted time.

"I hope mine comes true!"

"Oh, mine already did! Steven and I are going to Hogsmeade next weekend!"

"I wonder what she wished for."

"What did you wish for?"

"I can't tell you! Then it won't come true!"

Even Alice and Marly were in on the ridiculous conversation.

"I know my wish will come true."

"Oh really? And why are you so confident?" Marly asked before she took a heaping bite of her pork.

"Because I wished for Frank to kiss me." Alice said simply, a big smile pasted to her lips.

Marly laughed, nearly choking on her food. "Seriously? Alice, that isn't even a wish. He's your boyfriend. Of course he'll kiss you."

"It is too a wish! I can wish for a kiss whether I'm single or not!"

It was enough to drive Lily insane. Her eyes drifted down the table, coming to rest on one head of unruly hair. Her eyes often did that nowadays, whether she wanted them to or not. In fact, they had seemed to switch places in the past few years. Where James had used to watch Lily at all times, now her gaze was always fastened on him. At this moment, he was snorting into his pumpkin juice. Lily's brow furrowed, until she noticed the boy beside James.

Peter Pettigrew was crying.

"What in the world is going on?" Lily muttered to herself, moving down the aisle towards the group of boys before she really noticed it.

"It is a most beautiful day!" Peter sobbed, his eyes widened to nearly half the size of his head, filled with love.

"What is going on?" Lily demanded, confusion now filling her. The chubby boy was crying, yet smiling with joy.

James' chocolate eyes flashed to her the moment she spoke. "Peter wished for pork chops."

Peter started crying even harder. He wasn't even able to eat the pork he had wished for through his tears.

"That's ridiculous. Lunches are on a schedule." Lily rolled her eyes in skepticism. If any student in the castle would have a lunch schedule, it would be Peter Pettigrew.

"I see we have a nonbeliever!" Sirius clucked his tongue at her.

"I know." James added, his gaze heavy on her.

Lily met his eyes evenly. "What's it to you?"

A smirk lit James' lips. Why should he care? Why should she believe in something so silly? Before he could say anything else, she turned on her heel and swiftly marched back to her spot.

"This is insane." She whispered, finishing her lunch as quickly as she could. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could get to her next class and avoid this silly wish stuff. But James' words wouldn't leave her mind. What he'd said in class this morning, and his affirmation just now. Lily shook her head suddenly, putting a roadblock on her thoughts. She wasn't about to let thoughts about James Potter bother her.

As she entered the bright Transfiguration classroom, Lily made a beeline for her seat, slipping out her study sheet of incantations that McGonagall had assigned them to memorize for the quiz today. Because of all of the Head duties, Lily had only had time to finish her Potions essay the night before, and had left all of her Transfiguration studying for…right now.

But before she could get any solid quick study in, McGonagall swept into the room, calling attention to herself without saying a word.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you all, but our test will have to be canceled today."

The cheers of the students fell on deaf ears. Lily could feel her jaw literally go slack. This was impossible. McGonagall had to be sick, or going crazy. She never canceled tests. Never ever.

Sirius Black stood up right on his desk, his arms lifted into the air. "That's what I wished for!" He pumped his fist more like he had just won the Quidditch Cup.

"Thank you for sharing, Mr. Black. Now take your seat this instant." McGonagall's voice sounded bored.

"Make me, Minnie." Sirius winked saucily at the teacher, giving a little shake of his bum, before he did take his seat.

The professor ordered all of the students to pipe down, and study the materials from yesterday. But Lily's mind was racing too fast to focus on her study sheet. Black had wished for the test to be canceled. McGonagall never canceled tests, but against all odds, she had today. There had to be some logical reason for all of this. She tried to convince her irrational thoughts that this was all just shenanigans.

But as the day went on, the shenanigans kept getting worse.

Remus had wished to find some chocolate that he'd hidden a few months ago. He'd completely forgotten where he'd put the Honeyduke's Giant Chocolate Bar, and it hadn't been in any of his usual hiding places. Then, James reported that Remus had been making his bed this afternoon, and the chocolate bar had popped out from under the mattress when he pulled the sheet.

A Ravenclaw boy had wished for his Quidditch practice to be canceled, despite their hard headed Capitan Davies. Then after the last class of the day, rain poured down from the clouded sky, soaking the field. And miraculously, Davies canceled the practice.

A Slytherin girl had wished for there to be an easier way to break up with her boyfriend, and that afternoon, she found him snogging another girl in an empty classroom. To say the least, the boy was utterly confused at his girlfriend's cheer at discovering him cheating on her.

Lily felt as if she was the only one who had not made a wish at 11:11 this morning.

The babble of wishes did not end, and Lily grudgingly stabbed her potatoes at dinner, her appetite lessening by hearing the word "wish" spoken so many times.

"They all have to be coincidences." The words were off of her tongue before she knew it.

Marly sent her an incredulous look. "What?"

"All of these wishes. All of them are coincidences."

"Oh quit being a buzz kill, Evans!" Sirius moaned.

"I'm not being a buzz kill! It's just silly! A time isn't magical!"

"Lily, if people believe in something enough, it sort of makes it magical, wouldn't you think?" James said thoughtfully. Lily looked sharply at him, but her gaze lost its malicious glint when she saw the sparkle in his hazel depths. She hated how his eyes could make her melt. For some reason, she didn't think James was only talking about the time of 11:11. His voice was too heavy and low to be speaking of a silly time.

She had never given a thought to her and James Potter becoming friends, but when he had been made Head Boy, their friendship had actually snuck up on her. Lily still wasn't exactly sure what she thought about this friendship. They were friends, but at the same time there was something between them. Something that friendship didn't satisfy.

Lily's mind was brought back to this morning, and James' dismayed expression. _They may never come true, but it's worth wishing for._

"Lily, it wouldn't hurt you to make a wish." Alice said, her head leaning on Frank's shoulder.

"Well, I can't very well do that now, can I? Doesn't it need to be 11:11?" Lily's voice held obvious sarcasm, but Alice chose to ignore it.

"There are other things you can make wishes on."

"Like wells!" Sirius pointed out.

"Let me know if you find one, Black." Marly rolled her eyes at the boy beside her.

"Then what about eyelashes?" Alice offered. Frank sent her an almost comical confused look.

Lily was bombarded with things she could make wishes on, some she had never even heard of. A Hippogriff's claw, a troll's nose, a goblin's ear, crazy items.

"Or you can just make a wish on 11:11. Tonight." Lily's eyes were brought back to the speaker that had interrupted her other friends. James sat, his arms folded in front of him as his eyes gleamed in her direction. His smirk sent sparks down her arms.

"What if I don't want to make a wish?" Lily asked, her eyes never leaving those hazel ones.

"There's got to be something you want." His voice rumbled low, and there was a flash in his expression that Lily barely caught. He said it more to himself than to her, as if he was left blank and wondering at what she could possibly want. Lily wasn't actually sure of that herself.

Lily dawdled a little behind her friends as they made their way up to the Common Room. What did she want? She must have stared a hole in the back of that unruly hair covered head on the way up the stairs. Why did James have this power over her, to make her thoughts worry one idea so much, that she felt as if she was burning up inside?

The Common Room must have been just as magical as the other places, because wishes were coming true left and right there as well.

"My brother wasn't sick after all! It turned out he had just swallowed a bubotuber seed! I'd wished for him to get better, and now he is out of the hospital!"

Alice kept bragging that her wish had come true many times over today.

"And what about your wish, Marlene?" Alice questioned.

"Damn you, Alice." Marly teased, looking at Sirius out of the corner of her eye, a bit of a pout forming on her lips as she sighed.

If Lily heard the word 'wish' one more time, she would-

"I wonder if he wished for me to ask him to Hogsmeade. He seemed pretty relieved when I did."

A growl escaped her lips, and without any ceremony, she gathered up her books and stomped towards the stairs. She could feel those chocolate eyes on her, but she would not turn around.

Even though it was only ten o'clock on a Friday, she slipped into her pajamas and began her usual routine of getting ready for bed. After brushing her teeth, she gave herself a scrutinizing look in the mirror, her emerald eyes staring back at her.

If she had made a wish this morning, she could have joined in all of the silly talk. If she had made a wish, maybe she would have wished for-

_No._ Lily cut herself off, taking a deep breath before she sent a glare at her reflection before shutting off the light. She felt a shiver run through her as if those hazel eyes were on her again.

If she thought getting ready for bed earlier would make her fall asleep faster, Lily was dead wrong. Sleep evaded her, and she tried everything: counting sheep, relaxing her muscles in turn, even a sleep spell, but it didn't take effect. She was grateful that she had pulled the curtains tonight as she heard Alice and Marly sneak to bed. She didn't feel like facing them, even if she had no idea why.

She was the outsider. She was the only one who didn't believe in the silly wishes. Lily knew she should have held pride in herself at that, but she was the one who felt silly. She was only seventeen for Merlin's sake. She could still make wishes if she wanted to!

But she didn't know what she wanted.

Without her permission, her eyes wandered to the clock on her night stand.

11:00.

Her breath caught in her throat. James' voice echoed in her ear, she could almost feel him there with her. _Or you can just make a wish on 11:11_. _Tonight._

If she was willing to take it, she was getting another chance. Maybe that's why they had made times show up twice a day in the ancient times, so that people could get second chances.

11:03.

The long thin hand ticked forward, giving her a deadline. She wouldn't have to tell anybody, that way she wouldn't be teased relentlessly. But if she made a wish now, she would only go to sleep and have to wait for it to come true the next day.

_There's got to be something you want._

11:05.

Or she didn't have to wait.

She'd told James that a time couldn't be magical. So why was her heart beating so fast? Could he have been right?

_If people believe in something enough, it sort of makes it magical, wouldn't you think?_

His face filled her mind; his big, funny grin. His crazy hair. His sad look from this morning. His wondering look at her at dinner. She could feel him, even smell him.

"_What'd you wish for, Evans?"_

11:08.

"Oh, hell." Lily whispered to herself. There was something she wanted; something that was worth wishing for. And he was up in his dormitory, probably having sweet dreams, and not being tortured by a damn time.

She gave one last glance at the clock. "I'm insane." Lily whispered to it, before carefully slipping out from between the sheets and tip-toeing across the room.

The Common Room was thankfully empty. Lily wasn't entirely sure what she would do if some ickle first year found her sneaking up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. She felt as if she could hear a soft ticking noise in her head as she slowly turned the knob into James' dorm.

It was the first time Lily had ever seen the Marauders quiet. With the exception of some murmurs and snoring of course.

His curtains weren't closed. She could see the moonlight playing off of his hair against the pillow; his face was calm, soft. She didn't want to wake him, but time was running out.

"James! Wake up!" Lily hissed at the boy. He didn't even move a centimeter. Those hazel eyes stayed hidden from view by his eyelids.

"James!" A little louder this time, adding a poke to his hard shoulder. "James!" A clear voice erupted from her throat now, and she shook him this time.

James was jolted out of his dreams, blinking his eyes rapidly.

"Wha-ergoinon?" His hair was the usual mop of chaos, if even a little flatter on the side he'd been lying on. A hand searched blindly on his side table for his glasses. Lily snatched them up and thrust them into his hand. She was running out of time. Their fingers brushed, lingering near each other before he slid his glasses into place, finally focusing on her in the dark.

"Lily?" He sounded surprised. Lily couldn't blame him. She was surprised herself that she was here. She couldn't believe she was actually going to do this.

She moved forward, but the darkness made her as blind as James, and she tripped over his shoes, landing on the bed over his legs.

"Whoa there," his hands came to her shoulders, helping her sit up straight. He was still in a perplexed state, as he stared at her, probably trying to figure out if she was a figment of his imagination or not.

He removed his hands awkwardly from her shoulders, resting them back in his lap. "So…what are you doing here?"

"I don't have time to explain, James. It's almost 11:11! I'm going to miss it if I don't-" She couldn't finish her sentence.

She was sure more than anything that this is what she wanted, what she would wish for. And she only had a limited time to tell James that.

"Lily, you can't mean that you're suddenly a believer?" She could barely see it, but the redhead could definitely hear the smirk in his voice.

"You were the one who said it was worth it! You were the one who said I wanted something!" She accused, jutting her finger in his chest. Which she realized was bare. _Great._

He ran a hand through his hair, opening his mouth to say something. But Lily didn't have time for that. She didn't spare a glance at the clock on James' table; she only lunged forward and pushed their lips together.

James froze, shocked eyes wide open, his mind screaming at him to respond to the thing he'd wanted most. Lily almost pulled away at his lack of response. Maybe she had waited too long? Not even for 11:11, but too long as in six years. In a flash though, James arms came up around her, pulling her down with him. He moved his lips in wondrous ways against hers. It was the most beautiful thing Lily had ever felt, her blood singing in her veins as their tongues collided.

It took all she had to pull away, but James didn't let her get far, his hold on the back of her neck keeping her quite close indeed. Her eyes glanced finally glanced at the clock, which read 11:15.

11:15?

Jerking up from him, she would have fallen off of the bed if his arms hadn't wound around her with Quidditch reflexes.

"I missed it!" She could practically hear James' quizzical brow.

"Missed what? I think you were rather spot on with that." He sounded very thoughtful, even as his voice rumbled low.

"No, I missed 11:11. I missed my wish." She felt angry at herself for going through with the silly wish business in the first place, but the stronger emotion was the let down of having actually missed out on her wish.

James' hand traveled slowly from her back, up her arm, brushing just over her collar bone, and gripped her chin. She let him tilt her heavy head up to his glittering eyes that were filled with marvel as he took her in.

"Is this what you wished for?" His voice was so soft, making shivers explode in her belly. She let him pull her back down to him, and she laid her head on his chest, her arms looping around his neck as not to slide off the bed. The kiss that had just seared itself in her memory began writing James' name all over her speeding heart, though it had already been there for awhile.

Yes, this was what she wished for. This is what she wanted. The big hypocrite that she was.

She nodded into the crook of his neck, giving her affirmation to him. "But I was too late. It's not 11:11 anymore."

A slight chuckle came from James, and she could feel it. He pulled her face back up to his, letting his lips trace over her forehead.

"Well, you're lucky that I wished for the same thing this morning then, aren't you?"

A/N: Just a fun little oneshot! Hope you enjoyed it! More chapters of The Little Things in Life are in store!


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